New York City experienced a significant drop in violent crime in August with the possibility of ending the year with a historically low murder rate, according to the NYPD.
While the city has racked up 179 homicides throughout 2017, the record low was far more, totaling 333 deaths. At this rate, it is estimated that the year will conclude with around 270 murders, breaking the old record.
Last August alone saw 21 fewer homicides than August 2016. The number for last month plummeted by 60 percent from 35 killings to a mere 14. Drops were also seen in burglaries, rapes and shootings.
Mayor de Blasio said the decline is reflective of collaborative efforts between police and the communities they serve.
“Precision and neighborhood policing have brought us the safest August in history, with crime plummeting double digits,” Mayor de Blasio remarked, according to PIX11. “New Yorkers and the NYPD are working together to shatter records, driving crime down to levels unthinkable in the past.”
Now, the NYPD aims to make the city even safer.
“To see violence fall to these record lows defies what many thought was possible,” Police Commissioner James O’Neill said at a press conference on Tuesday. “I know we can do even more.”
